When I got home yesterday and checked out some IGN news and spotted all of this Nintendo news I've been waiting for since before Wii U's launch, I got very excited! Here's what I thought about all of the announcements...

Wii U Virtual Console

I've been waiting on this one for a particularly long time because I knew it was coming. So when I saw the headline today, I got VERY excited! Some of that excitement died down, however, once I got down into the details of it. I feel a bit cheated with this; back using Virtual Console on Wii, I had a vision of buying my old favorites in downloadable form for posterity - so that you could always play them whenever you wanted (without having to dig up old consoles and deal with their faults). Due to this, I was already annoyed that whilst my Virtual Console games did transfer over from my Wii to my Wii U, I have to boot my Wii U into Wii mode and play them from there. I figured in due time when Virtual Console was sorted out for Wii U, these would come along with it, but apparently Nintendo's starting Virtual Console all over again. Nintendo's been infamously criticized for not adding games frequently enough and their solution is to start from scratch? This is after essentially doing the same thing when it comes to a few Virtual Console titles on 3DS (if you want Punch Out!! (NES) on 3DS and Wii Virtual Console, you need to pay full price for both). It's a stark contrast of what Sony's doing with PS Vita and PS3 (cross-buy, giving you access to any game you buy on both PS3 and Vita, and most of those games share saves, too). Not only this, but these are games that people may very well be on their third or fourth time buying. Consider Punch Out!! (I would think more than likely coming to Wii U Virtual Console). It's possible that there are Nintendo fans out there who bought the original game on their NES for about $50.00, downloaded it for $5.00 on Wii, then for another $5.00 on 3DS, and finally for another $1 on Wii U? Plus, it will be more than just a dollar to unlock things like N64 games you already bought on Wii.

On the bright side, and what keeps me excited, is that this is the best version of Virtual Console. I'm bothered that despite the pricing, the games aren't being updated to output in pixel perfect HD (so every old 2D game will look fuzzy rather than pixely), but you can play them on the GamePad screen, which is a nice touch. Plus, each game has its own MiiVerse community (just like any other Wii U game released) which is great because it's already been a blast to have conversations and post screens of ZombiU to Miiverse whenever I play. The next problem however, is how long it takes them to get back up to the library that the Wii's Virtual Console had (a library that left many wanting itself). The answer is, it never will. It's virtually inconceivable that every third party re-re-releases all of their games onto Wii U Virtual Console even if Nintendo themselves do. Not that everything on the old Virtual Console is a gem, but I expect we'll miss a lot of the good ones, too and the fact that at this time Nintendo has only announced NES and SNES games (just two out of the plethora of consoles supported on the old Virtual Console) doesn't bode well for Virtual Console's future. The piece of news that alleviates most of my anger is the awesome "30th Anniversary Family Computer Wii U Virtual Console Trial Campaign" though! Wii U Virtual Console doesn't officially release until Spring, but each month up until then will offer a select game for just 30 cents (starting yesterday with Balloon Fight)! I need to get all of those, that price is an absolute steal! I can't wait for Nintendo to add N64 and Sega Genesis and finally work its way to GameCube game downloads as well, which has been my prediction for a long time. I also predict Wii game downloads a little ways down the road too, just not marketed under the "Virtual Console" name.

The Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker HD

This relates to another one of my predictions. I figured some of the first Game Cube Virtual Console games would be Wind Waker and Luigi's Mansion followed by things like Melee to build hype before the next Smash Bros. I wasn't completely right, but here Wind Waker is, coming to Wii U in an even better way! I almost hope they only offer this as a download because I'll undoubtedly choose the physical media otherwise and inconvenience myself by having the case take up room I don't have. Anyway, despite starting Ocarina of Time on Virtual Console (and getting comedically stuck early on) I didn't actually finish playing it until I bought the re-release on 3DS later on. I still eventually want to play the original the rest of the way through because I love those old N64-noticably-polygonal graphics. Will that be the same way with Wind Waker? I feel like that system and this game especially had really great geometry and the HD could only add to it! As someone in the comments on the image comparison page pointed out though, the game is no longer cell shaded (the most alluring part of the old graphics for me). It's got realistic gradient lighting which stops the solid color textures, shadows, and highlights that create the toon shaded style. They probably made this decision due to the fact that Wind Waker was already a great enough looking game that putting it in HD probably didn't look that much better considering it still stands the test of time. So by adding relaistic lighting and making some artistic tweaks they can pull out some small details for those smaller pixels to show off in HD. So while I'm excited for this, I'm not sure which to play first.

Also, this may sound crazy, but consider the above picture. The color scheme of the water and sky has changed considerably. Is it just me or does the original game seem to use shades and tints of a blue more similar to the Game Cube's famous indigo whilst the Wii U HD version seems to opt for the Wii U logo's light blue color?

The Legend Of Zelda Wii U

Which in turn brings us to the news that the new HD Zelda they've hinted at before was actually announced, though still next to nothing is known about it. The way they're saying they plan on bringing it back to the series roots and mention it challenging the franchise's conventions makes me think there will be optional co-op in a very open, more non-linear Zelda game. Whatever it is, it seems it won't follow the formula everyone's become so comfortable with since Ocarina Of Time. This is definitely exciting news but considering I'm knee deep in Skyward Sword, at the boring beginning of Twilight Princess, at the beginning of Minish Cap and have yet to start Wind Waker... I've got my Zelda fix for a while!

This one is a bit puzzling to me. I'm assumung Nintendo's doing this to build hype because they're afraid Sony's and Microsoft's inevitable console announcements this year could overshadow what Nintendo's got going.
That is, they've announced that a new 3D Mario for Wii U from the Super Mario Galaxy team and a new Mario Kart for Wii U will be playable at E3 and that screens of the next Super Smash Bros. will be shown! I've been saying it since NSMBU was announced, that if you show me a 3D Mario, that's when I'll get excited. And now I can't wait - I hadn't expected it'd be so soon considering two Mario games released just recently. While I'd be glad to have a Super Mario Galaxy 3 (seems incredibly unlikely to me), and I've constantly said I'd like a Super Mario 64 sequel wherein you revisit the castle - what I'd really like is what I think is actually going to happen; something completely new. Super Mario 64 launched on N64 and brought Mario (and in a lot of ways, gaming) into 3D. Super Mario Sunshine added the F.L.U.D.D. elements on Game Cube. Super Mario Galaxy played with gravity and a fun space theme on Wii. Finally, Super Mario 3D Land made a Mario hybrid that plays in perfect bite sized levels while feeling like a 2D Mario yet allowing you to move about a 3D plane. Mario is constantly reinvented by new hardware, and I expect no less this time.

As for Mario Kart U, I find it a little harder to get excited about these games anymore because you basically know what to expect. Honestly, I think that the handheld installments just outshine the console ones. I love Mario Kart 64 and it's my favorite, nostalgically, but Mario Kart DS was fantastic and I think Mario Kart 7 might be my favorite in overall quality. Meanwhile, on consoles, Double Dash is my second to least favorite (it's still fun) after Mario Kart Wii (which I also like, I just found all of its changes felt like gimmicks). Still, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what they're doing with this one and will no doubt pick it up and have a blast when it releases!

Speaking of things that don't really excite me anymore - screen shots. It's been a LONG time since screen shots really excited me. But ANYTHING Smash Bros. will excite me to no end, so I look forward to seeing this game for the first time! I can't wait to sit down with my Wii U, 3DS, and a big bag of Crispy M&Ms.

I just hope they've somehow got more surprises in store or that these games really look AMAZING because that surprise / hype factor could be wasted here, five months premature.

Look at that yarn bump mapping!

Yoshi's Land Wii U

I'm really glad this rumor of a new Yoshi title on Wii U turned out to be true. What makes me even happier is that it's from the developer of Kirby's Epic Yarn (a game I've yet to play but one that has an art style I'm very partial to and that reminded me of Yoshi's Story in the first place) and headed up by the man who was in charge of Yoshi's Island and Yoshi's Story. From what we've seen, the graphics are even better than Kirby, featuring a polygonally 3D Yoshi (one that's actually made of yarn like you would make a yarn Yoshi in real life as opposed to just yarn outlines on a 2D plane like in Kirby). It's really impressive looking - the fabric looks more realistic than even the sack boys of LittleBigPlanet! I'm really excited to play this one, I just hope it's a little more challenging / fun like Yoshi's Island than Yoshi's Story (though I do love Yoshi's Story). From what I've heard, Kirby's Epic Yarn's one flaw was that it was a bit too easy due to having a younger target audience, and I hope this game doesn't feature this as well (although it probably will to some extent).

So what did you guys think about our little Nintendo party yesterday? Is the new Virtual Console unfair? Excited for these games? Let me know what you all think in the comments!